COLUMBUS, OH -- Two teachers from Barnesville Middle School in Belmont County were honored recently for their efforts to educate young people about coal mining and issues surrounding the coal mining industry, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
Seventh-grade science teacher Alice Gordon and fifth-grade language arts teacher Gail Koch received an honorable mention National Minerals Education Award from the Interstate Mining Compact Commission. Ohio is one of 20 member states of the commission.
Staff members from the ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management nominated the teachers for the award.
Gordon and Koch won in the mining awareness category for their Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Project. The project, which will soon be part of the Barnesville Middle School's regular curriculum, aims at increasing students' understanding of coal mining and its related issues in a non-biased way. Students prepare reports on careers in the coal industry, assemble scrapbooks, sketch drawings for a book on the region and conduct interviews with coal miners.
Belmont County lies in the heart of Ohio's coal mining country. Having educated themselves in the various aspects of coal mining, Gordon and Koch present diverse viewpoints about the industry to their students. Students host speakers representing unions, regulatory agencies, environmental organizations and businesses. They also collect mining memorabilia as part of the project.
Gordon and Koch received their award on April 23 at the Interstate Mining Compact Commission's annual awards banquet in Lexington, Kentucky. The commission recognizes outstanding achievements in mining, reclamation, and minerals education outreaches on a national level.